Barry Wells, the US ambassador to The Gambia, has disclosed that the Ambassador Girls Scholarship Programme (AGSP) will provide more than 550,000 scholarships for girls for the next four-year period.

Ambassador Wells made these remarks at the AGSP/FAWEGAM lessons learning conference at the Paradise Suites Hotel on recently.

Speaking at the conference, Ambassador Wells emphasised the importance of bringing together both men and women together for a greater national development.

"For a bird to fly it needs two wings. In the same way, for a country to develop, it needs all its children; men and women.

"Therefore, if the development of a country should take off, then the analogy of the bird flying truly applies," he told the participants.

He added his analogy seeks to introduce the goal of AEI/AGSP, which is geared towards correcting gender imbalance in education in Africa for sustainable development.

The US ambassador said girls represented 60 per cent of the 40 million children in Africa who had no access to education when AEI was passed in 2002.

He further saluted the entire government and other partners for being supportive to AGSP's efforts and activities, which is implemented through FAWEGAM. He said the programme has provided at least 300,000 scholarships in Africa and about a 100,000 in West Africa.

For her part, Yadi Njie Eribo, the coordinator of FAWEGAM, underscored the numerous benefits the AGSP has brought towards girls and women empowerment, especially in the areas of education and health. Ms Njie-Eribo added the AGSP has sponsored over 800 girls in the Western Region.